Like he has with fellow receivers T.J. Johnson and DaVonte' Neal, Rodriguez, always looking to get the ball into the hands of his best playmakers as much as possible, is getting creative.

In Grant, he has a player that's capable of playing multiple positions, can outrun defenders with his speed and has a knack for making big plays. You might as well call that the Rodriguez trifecta.

Now Grant will be given a chance to show off his skills in the backfield. No, the move isn't permanent. Yes, he'll still primarily be a wide receiver. But over the final week of spring drills, Rodriguez wants to get a look at Grant at running back and see if he's able to carry the ball a handful of times in games this season.

With no Ka'Deem Carey, it will be running back by committee in 2014, and the coach is willing to think outside the box.

"I've been pleased with everything he's done this spring," Rodriguez said of Grant. He's a tough guy. He'll throw his body around. He's gotten a little bigger, but he has to continue to get in the weight room.

"Samajie is a really good football player."

That was on display during his freshman season.

Grant was second on the team with 47 catches and had 373 yards and a touchdown. The Compton, Calif., native played in all 13 games and started nine. That's not bad for a guy that was ranked as the 174th-best receiver in the 2013 recruiting class by the Scout.com recruiting service.

"Before I got here, (receivers) Coach (Tony) Dews called me and said, 'You have a couple of weeks to learn the plays,' " Grant said. "He said if I learned them, I was going to play as a true freshman. If I didn't, I wasn't going to play.

"I've never studied anything so much in my life."

Even though he'll dabble at running back this week and in fall camp, Grant's priority is still to continue to improve at wide receiver. He's gone back to the fundamentals this spring, working on what he calls "mechanics." Included in that is route running, "looking in" the football and protecting the ball the right way.

"In practice, when I show the right mechanics, I'm always open," Grant said. "So if I can get consistent with that, I can be a much better player going forward."

Though it's not exactly surprising to hear a player say he wants to get better in the off-season, it might be necessary for Grant to stay in the picture at wide receiver.

Last season, he was given an opportunity because of a lack of bodies. There will be no such issue this season.

With Austin Hill back from a torn knee ligmaent and transfers Neal and Cayleb Jones eligible after sitting out next season, playing time will be more competitive this season. That's not even mentioning Nate Phillips, who led the team with 696 yards last year and had seven touchdowns, and returnees David Richards, Trey Griffey and Garic Wharton.

But if some are forgetting about Grant, that's certainly not something he's worried about.

"Like my coach says, film doesn't lie," Grant said. "I don't look at it like that. All of our receivers are good, but it's not like we have a (Clemson All-American) Sammy Watkins here. Nobody is like him. If that guy was in front of me, I'd be like, 'Oh, man, I gotta do something crazy to get ahead of him.' Don't get me wrong, we have a lot of good receivers, but I'm right there with them."